New Business by Marblehead Couple Will Give College Students 'Urgent' Legal Advice

A Marblehead couple is launching a new business that will match up college students with emergency legal representation, according to a report in the Boston Business Journal.

Jim and Bonnie Garaventi have started StudentDefend, which charges a $89 yearly fee to connect students with a qualified defense attorney 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The idea is to get students “fast, easy, affordable access to urgent legal advice,” according to an announcement from StudentDefend released on Wednesday.

The pre-screened attorneys that are part of the program will be able to provide “urgent legal advice,” according to the couple, who also said as many as one in nine college students will run into legal problems due solely to alcohol at one time during their college career.

The couple told the BBJ that the idea came about from a personal experience, when one of their four children ran into some legal trouble away at school a few years ago.

The company started on Wednesday and service will officially begin at the start of the school year, on Sept. 1.

Go to the Boston Business Journal website to reach the full story about StudentDefend and the Garaventi‘s.